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Rabat – British mining company Rainbow Rare Earths announced on Monday the signing of a “Master Agreement” with Morocco’s phosphate and fertilizer giant OCP Group and Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) to “further investigate and develop the optimal technique for the extraction of rare earth elements from phosphogypsum.”
Phosphogypsum is a waste by-product from the processing of phosphate rock in plants that produce phosphoric acid and phosphate fertilizers. The material is used in agriculture for soil amendment or as fertilizer, in the brick and cement industry, as well as in road construction.
The tri-party agreement aims to “develop the optimal route for the extraction of rare earths from phosphogypsum, and the subsequent processing of these rare earths into separated elements,” indicated Rainbow Rare Earths in a statement.
Relying on their respective expertise in the field, the three parties will join forces to “develop pilot and industrial-scale extraction of rare earths from phosphogypsum,” added the statement.
Rainbow Rare Earths highlighted the “significant IP assets, know-how, and expertise in the field of phosphogypsum processing” that OCP Group built thanks to the “innovative research carried out by UM6P. The two institutions will also contribute with their “adapted complementary separation technologies.”
Given Rainbow Rare Earths “expertise and intellectual property on rare earths extraction and processing,” the partnership will provide a “synergistic” opportunity for mutual development, the statement explained.
Rainbow Rare Earths’ CEO George Bennett said: “We are delighted to enter this agreement with such innovative partners and believe their significant knowledge of phosphogypsum processing fits well with our own technical expertise in rare earths processing.”
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Stressing the great potential of phosphogypsum as a “valuable source of rare earths,” Bennett said that his team is “focused on securing opportunities for both collaboration and expertise sharing” in the extraction and processing of rare earth elements found in phosphogypsum.
Founded in 2011, Rainbow Rare Earths is mainly engaged in the development of rare earth mineral projects in South Africa (the Phalaborwa Project) and Burundi (the Gakara Project).
